Trial underway in World Trade Center suit

A trial that’s been more than a decade in the making is underway this week in New York.

After 9/11, World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein sued United Airlines, American Airlines, Boeing Co., and other aviation and security companies and their insurers. He seeks to make them pay for what he called “reckless” security breaches that caused the Twin Towers to collapse. A trial is taking place this week in a federal district court in Lower Manhattan.

Silverstein had signed a 99-year lease to control the Twin Towers just two months before the buildings collapsed as a result of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. He already has recovered $4.1 billion from a group of property insurers, but that pales in comparison to the price tag of replacing the towers, which will add up to $10 billion. Silverstein has said that if the court awards him damages in this case, the money would go toward the rebuilding project. The judge must now decide whether Silverstein’s prior collections should offset the damages he says the airlines owe to him.